Maharashtra Village Receives Rs 68 Lakh After Firm Uses Soil Bacteria Commercially

Dapur village in Maharashtra's Nashik district received Rs 67,69,359 in its Gram Panchayat account in November 2025 under India's Access and Benefit Sharing mechanism, after biotechnology firm Advanced Enzyme Technologies Ltd used bacteria sourced from two kilogrammes of local soil to develop 42 commercial probiotic products. The payment, facilitated by the National Biodiversity Authority and Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board, is one of the largest community-level ABS benefits documented under India's Biological Diversity Act.

Researchers from Advanced Enzyme Technologies collected soil from Dapur in 2024 while searching for commercially useful microorganisms and identified Bacillus coagulans, a bacterium with strong probiotic properties capable of surviving extreme conditions and producing enzymes that aid digestion. Under India's biodiversity laws, companies using biological resources from local ecosystems must share between 1 per cent and 5 per cent of purchase price or 0.1 to 0.5 per cent of sale price with the communities from which those resources originate. After administrative costs of up to 5 per cent are retained by national and state biodiversity boards, the remaining 95 per cent must go to local communities through village biodiversity committees.

The payment came as a surprise to Dapur's approximately 5,900 residents, who had not applied for any government grant. Village officials initially assumed the funds could be used for roads and water infrastructure before biodiversity board officials clarified that ABS funds must be directed specifically to biodiversity conservation and sustainable ecological management. The Doulat Vaghamode of the Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board confirmed that NBA and state board officials visited the village in June 2024 to verify the provenance of the soil sample. The bacterium itself is found in soils across India but the company sourced it specifically from Dapur, establishing the community's legal entitlement.

Village leaders are now considering establishing a botanical garden or sacred grove on common land to conserve native plant species, including Gulvel (Tinospora cordifolia) used to treat livestock injuries and Kadamba, known for traditional medicinal properties. The Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board is also working with Dapur to prepare its People's Biodiversity Register documenting local plants, animals, ecosystems and traditional knowledge. Community members report that the experience has shifted perceptions about the economic value of soil and biodiversity, with farmers beginning to discuss reducing chemical fertiliser and pesticide use to protect soil health for future benefit-sharing opportunities.

Key figure — Rs 67,69,359 received by Dapur village Gram Panchayat in November 2025